Effective with the 2018 contest, there have been some modifications to the CQ WW rules developed and approved by the contest committee. In summary:
Busted Call/NIL penalty is reduced from 3X to 2X. This reflects a more reasonable approach to errors, while simultaneously providing a continued incentive to maintain accurate logging during the contest.
All CW and SSB email address references for log submissions have been removed. While historical submission methods (e.g., e-mail, paper logs) will still be accepted in the near-term, the committee strongly prefers that Web uploads be the method of sending us your log. Note that the Web upload of logs (including format checking) is available at <cqww.com/logcheck/>.
The 10X penalty for rubber clocking with MS/M2 entries has been eliminated. Be advised that the committee will continue to vigorously pursue time abuses for these categories using a number of sophisticated analysis tools at our disposal.
The observer program has been eliminated. Given the absence of a reasonable pool of volunteers and supporting funding, the program has proven to be impractical.
The top entry in the Rookie category will be awarded to the winner on a one-time only basis. Previous Rookie winners are ineligible for plaques in this category.
A complete listing of the 2018 rules has been posted at <cqww.com/rules.htm>. Updated translations for a variety of languages will be posted as available.
As always, if you have any questions, please submit them via our new contact form at <cqww.com/contact/> where you can expect to receive a response as soon as possible.
Best of luck as you prepare for the upcoming contest season!
73, John, K1AR
CQWW Contest Director